By Jennie Gordon
St. Margaret’s Uniting Church, Mooroolbark

open our eyes
to see you now that you are gone
lift the heavy lids
that resist the light
and prefer the night

open our minds
to understand what is written
unlock the guarded doors
that hold our treasure store
of unfathomable knowing

open our hearts
to welcome the one who comes
sever the chains of grief
that bind our broken dream
clothe us with love unseamed

open our ministry
to proclaim your holy name
speaking without relent;
turn, return, repent
followed by words of peace;
forgive, receive, release

open our lives
to your lifted hands of blessing
release the songs of joy
birthed in this ruptured time
and let your house
be ours, and mine

By Jennie Gordon
St. Margaret’s Uniting Church, Mooroolbark

love can not
live alone
can not cut down
to cook for one

she walks the halls
making beds
to dare the dreams
of drowsy heads

she tends the garden
plants the herbs
to flavour life
with more than words

she washes windows
sweeps the floor
and never locks
the welcome door

she waits within,
between, behind
she watches, weeps
and breathes her mind

she lets herself be
guest and host
and lives for those
who seek her most

dispels the dark
of presence lost
sent from the one
who paid the cost

love can not
live alone
she dwells in us
she is our home

By Jennie Gordon
St. Margaret’s Uniting Church, Mooroolbark

a cacophony of questions
scratches and screeches
scoring sound track
noisy nonsense
like the back
of the cereal pack

sleeping and waking
taking
stillness from it’s box
and smashing it to pieces
corrupting calm
doubling doubt
belittling belief
and there is no
relief

wanting arrival
at a destination of complete
understanding
and
getting instead
the constant journey
of
the eternal now

my house is one
of essential mystery
and if you dwell
within these walls
you will fall
into the calm
of the place where you belong
abiding in my song
of love
for you
for ever

By Antony McMullen
Social Justice Officer
Justice and International Mission Unit
Synod of Victoria and Tasmania

I have been reading about the tradition of Fools for Christ in a book by Bishop Kallistos Ware and at the same time came across the following observations by the Reverend Jim Wallis of ‘God’s Politics’ fame:

“We stand before the world as fools. We are foolish enough to believe that Jesus’ way is stronger and truer than the way of the world. We rest secure in the knowledge that he has, and will, overcome. We are called to be fools for Christ, a people saved by his cross and converted, finally, by his resurrection. May God convert us to such foolishness.” (more…)

By Antony McMullen
Social Justice Officer
Justice and International Mission Unit
Synod of Victoria and Tasmania

Christian history has at different times featured a debate about ‘icons’. Can Christ and honoured deceased Christians be depicted? In the first millennium this debate erupted in the Christian East. Byzantine Emperors pushed the iconoclastic cause – claiming these images should not be produced. St. John of Damascus championed the cause of popular piety and the ‘iconodules’ (those who were pro-icons), stating that it is not matter that is being worshipped but the Creator of matter. The incarnation makes the icon possible, ‘the Word was made flesh’. Matter can be venerated as a means to aid worship of God. (more…)

By Adrian Pyle
Director of Mission Participation Resource Unit
Uniting Church in Australia
Vic / Tas Synod

I have found myself in three recent but very different conversations about how Christians connect with others in their community. Each of these has left me a little uneasy. On reflection I realise that in each case I had quite different views from my conversation partners, about how validly we can relate to those not identified as Christian. (more…)

By Caro Field
Candidate for Ministry at Centre for Theology and Ministry

God’s capacity to surprise never ceases to amaze me. Even when engaging in activities of Christian service, where the general idea is that I am doing things for the benefit of others, God keeps showing me how the people I am ‘helping’ are not always as ‘helpless’ as I might have thought, and they are not the only ones who benefit from my engagement with them.

A case in point is The Olive Way, an initiative of my local congregation in Brunswick, to provide friendship and hospitality to the people in the local area. It was a great concern that our congregation has a huge church building, located in Sydney Rd, in the main shopping precinct of Brunswick, and that this building was for the most part, locked up and dark during the week. Through The Olive Way, we open the church complex three mornings a week, providing a place for people to come and have a cuppa and something to eat, and chat, read the paper or engage in other activities. The worship space is also open, and some people come in off the street and use the space for quiet reflection or prayer. (more…)

By Jennie Gordon
St. Margaret’s Uniting Church, Mooroolbark

how will we know your voice?

amidst the din of a thousand others
drumming their droll into our ears
jumping fences, crashing parties
sneaking in when the gate’s ajar
here; just try this, it’s what you need,
with this, success is guaranteed …
and then leaving us, fox-quick
hungrier than before
somehow sold-out, depleted
flattened, fleeced and cheated,

how will we know your voice?

it holds the breath of all beginnings
fills the cup with love outpouring
binds the broken, finds the lost
feeds the hungry, pays the cost
a still, small voice that dampens storms
ageless and timeless, since life’s dawn,
your tone the same

you are the one
who speaks our name

By Jennie Gordon
St. Margaret’s Uniting Church, Mooroolbark

you find us,
walking away
from the death of our dreams
our sad and steady tread arrested
by your question

stranger in Jerusalem
don’t you know

our church once had 216 children
in the Sunday School
and young people
came to evening services
- that’s how I met her
the love of my life

there was nothing else to do
on Sundays
so everyone came to church
well, almost everyone

but then they took our sabbath
and ran a cricket pitch through the middle
and put up goal posts
and opened shops
and held markets and festivals

and changed the music

and we had such hopes…

stranger in Jerusalem
somewhere in my muscle memory
you seem familiar,

come inside
share our table
open our eyes
to resurrection

By Jennie Gordon
St. Margaret’s Uniting Church, Mooroolbark

stay with us
because it is almost evening
the day is nearly over
and we don’t want to go
into this third night
alone

stay with us
because we are entombed
in an inexplicable emptiness
caught in clouds of confusion
and you seem to be
the key

stay with us
because there’s something about
how you hold the stories
how you hold our hearts
how you hold the bread
and bless
and break
and share

stay with us
until the morning comes
until it dawns